The Riddle Of His Heart
by LoveIsAllYouNeed96
Summary: 'Blood Toxicity: 54%' Arianna has spent the last seventeen years of her life in the shadow of her father, Tony Stark. After overhearing a conversation between her father and Jarvis, Arianna soon discovers a new development set to tear the Stark family apart. When faced with the realisation that failure results in death, how far would you go to find a cure?
1. A Day In The Life

My life so far...well over the past 17 years, I have tried to keep as far away from the ever present press as possible. My Mom and Dad have always wanted me to be away from it all. The prying eyes of the public, the judgy pens of the journalists and the heavy flashes of the photographers. Life is anything but simple, but that's part of the deal when your dad is Iron Man!


	2. Bullet With Butterfly Wings

"Morning Ari." Dad smiled as he saw me descending the staircase.

"Morning dad." I immediately noticed the large hole in the wall. I just looked at him.

"What?!" He smirked.

"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days!" I stated.

"Are you actually showing a new emotion?" He teased. "Have you discovered concern?" Dad asked.

"You're going to destroy this house." I pretended to be serious.

"Again with the concern!"

"Yes but if you get yourself killed, I'll get this and I am not paying to rebuild the damn place. It's like you've made it your lifes mission to find every possible way to crash through this house!" I joked.

Dad laughed. "You are so like me it's unbelievable." He smiled. "That's not a bad thing seeing as I'm a genius, billionaire with a beatiful daughter." Dad kissed me on the forehead. "But your downfall is that you're too stubborn."

"Oh come on, I share your DNA, how am I not stubborn!" I smirked.

"You cut me deep!" He laughed.

"If you too will ever stop picking on each other, Steve's here to see you Tony." Mom spoke as she entered.

I smiled. "Tell him I said hi."

"Tell me yourself." Uncle Steve smiled as he walked into the room.

"Uncle Steve!" I exclaimed before launching myself at him.

"Hey Ario." Uncle Steve wrapped his arms around me. Since dad has no family, I don't either apart from mom and dad. The Avengers are practically my family. Over the years, they have been there for me, but no one as much as Steve. Steve is like a second dad to me and it's pretty cool how he's from the past.

"You wanted to see me." Dad walked over.

"Yeah, S.H.I.E.L.D stuff." Uncle Steve answered.

"Uhh!" Dad moaned. "Come on, we'll talk in my office."

They both walked off.

Walking upstairs to my room, I lay down on my bed before looking up at the ceiling. "Jarvis."

"Yes Arianna?" He answered.

"Could you access the house's photo albums please?" I asked.

"Accessing house photo albums." Jarvis spoke. "Accessed. What would you like me to do with these files?"

"Could you project them onto the ceiling please."

"Playing slideshow."

The photos were soon displayed onto the cieling. I smiled as they slowly scrolled. The first was a picture of dad holding me as a baby. On the second, I was about seven as wearing an Iron Man plastic helmet that dad had bought me. He found it hilarious that people were actually making toys of him. As the next picture showed, I furrowed an eyebrow. The photo was of a S.H.I.E.L.D file. "Pause." I instructed before reaching my hands up to control the picture. Zooming in, the document read;

'**Name:** Anthony Edward Stark

**Alias:** Tony, Iron Man

**Occupation:** Former CEO of Stark Industries

**Current Location:** Malibu, CA

**Bio:** Born to Howard Stark and Maria Collina Carbonell Stark. Anthony Stark was born with extremely high intelligence. After successfully building a circuit board at the age of four and an automobile engine at six, Tony then went on to graduate summa cum laude at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 17. Age age 21, he stepped in as CEO to Stark Industries.'

Why does dad have a copy of this own S.H.I.E.L.D file? Flicking to the next photo, my eyes widened. "Oh my god!"

'**Name:** Arianna Grace Stark

**Alias:** Ari

**Occupation:** Student

**Current Location:** Malibu, CA

**Bio:** Born to Anthony Edward Stark and Sophia Sutton. Arianna Stark was born with high intelligence although it does exceed that of her father's. So far she has shown no signs of talent.

**In Line For Training:** No'

My eyes widened. Pepper isn't my real mother. I felt ill. Reading through the file carefully once again, I scowled in anger. "No signs of talent! Cheeky sods!" I grabbed my control panel from the side table and began imputing computer code. Picking up my phone, I first harnessed the signal of two sattelites orbiting the Earth before pressing F1, ctrl and enter. The code began to deconstruct the mainframe before granting me access. I smiled. "Now we just need a nice new security code." I quickly entered a very safe password before also upping the security and preventing any further hacks or leaks by blocking all open access points. The computer screen began to load up every file in S.H.E.I.L.D's data vault. One of the file names immediately caught my eye.

'_Operation: Stark_'

I clicked on it. "What are you up to S.H.I.E.L.D?" As the file opened, there were various pictures attached to it. The first was of my grandad Howard, the next was of dad and the third was me. One the bottom of my photo, someone had hastily scrawled some cryptic symbols onto it. "Jarvis." I called.

"Yes Arianna?" He responded.

"I need to know the origin of those symbols and could you translate them for me?"

"Of course."

"Nick Fury is going to be really pissed about this." I smirked as I looked at the projected clock on the computer screen interface. "Hmmm, it's been three minutes, better hurry Jarvis, the whole gang's probably going to show up in around two and a half minutes tops."

"File translation is at 75%." He stated.

I quickly copied all of the files into dad's ghost drive before looking back at the status bar. "Jarvis, 87% is not fast enough."

"Miss, in all due respect, I am harvesting half the power reserve of California to speed up this process."

"Oh stop whining, you love me really." I smirked.

"94%."

'_Files successfully copied_'

"100% Miss Stark." Jarvis stated.

"I'm all ears." I answered.

"The symbols are Asgardian."

"Brilliant! So what does it say?" I rushed him.

"The translation reads..." Jarvis' voice stopped.

I rolled my eyes as I realised who had arrived. Walking downstairs, mom, dad and Steve were already in conversation with Nick Fury.

"You!" He shouted angrily before storming over to me. "What are you playing at?!"

"I don't understand, what did she do?" Mom asked.

"She's hacked into our mainframe, changed the security code and upped the security so that we can't access it!"

Mom's eyes widened. "What?!"

Dad smiled proudly. He seemed pleased at what I had managed to do.

"Why did you hack S.H.I.E.L.D?" Mom asked sternly.

"They said I lacked talent!" I retorted. "Oh and by the way, Captain America is not a safe enough security code."

Dad sniggered.

Nick Fury looked less then impressed.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! But even so, I thought S.H.I.E.L.D would have chosen a more solid security code."

"You need to give us the code Miss Stark!" Nick stated in an aggresive tone.

"I will if you answer some of my questions." I grinned.

"I sadly regret that we do have methods of extracting this information from you." He threatened.

"Which you won't be using." Uncle Steve stated sternly.

I knew I had to go straight out and say it. "What's Project Stark?" I asked curiously.

Dad suddenly became interested.

"I've read your files and seen the attached photos. Grandad Howard, dad and me are all in there." I stated. "The only thing is, you ripped out the power before Jarvis could tell me what the symbols scrawled on the bottom of my photo read."

"I advise you to not interfere in matters that do not concern you." Fury threatened once again.

"I can still remember them."

"We'll wipe your drives." He stated.

"Photographic memory, Stark trait." I grinned.

"Why do you have a file about my daughter?" Mom asked sternly.

"We've been keeping an eye on her."

"For what?" Her expression was a mixture of confusion and worry.

"That's classified information."

"I'm not inline for training." I stated. "That's what my file stated."

Dad laughed loudly. "It all makes sense now." He smiled. "You want to enlist my daughter to fight for your organisation so you've been monitoring her to see if she's like me." Dad had cracked it. "Well the thing is, she is like me. You were wrong about her intelligence, she's smarter than me." He smiled proudly once again. "Maybe you should go back to you _secret_ lair and try to work out how your entire database was hacked by a seventeen year old girl." Dad mocked.

"Oh and the security code is Arianna Stark." I grinned.

"Very mature!" Nick Fury shook his head before walking off. "You are right, she is just like you!" He scorned before exiting the house.

Dad laughed before pulling me into a hug. "I have never been so proud of you."

Mom shot him a dissaproving look.

"I mean, what you did today was very wrong! You need to think about what you did!" He pretended to tell me off before smirking.

Steve looked like he was on mom's side. "S.H.I.E.L.D is not an organisation that you want to be messing with." He stated.

"Ari, they could have taken you away today!" Mom shouted. "What possessed you to do that?"

"Like I said, they called me talentless!" I shouted back.

"That doesn't mean you can just hack their systems!"

"Oh just give it a rest!" Oops, definately didn't mean to say that.

"You spoilt little!" She began angrily. "I don't care if they called you talentless, can you just stop showing off. People don't care Ari! Nick's right, you need to grow up and get a grip of your self because right now, I don't know who you are anymore!"

"It's not like I hacked their mainframe to infultrate their data and share it to the world!" I stated.

"And that makes it okay does it?!" She asked sternly.

I scoffed. "Oh I see, it wasn't the right thing to do!" I shook my head. "Unbelievable! Ever since I was a little kid, you have always taught me not to lie! I must say it's pretty unfair is you are allowed to bend the rules when you are the ones breaking them!"

"I don't understand." Uncle Steve stated.

"Is it okay to lie and change important records such as hospital records and birth certificates?!" I asked sternly.

"Ari..." Began mom.

"You have lied to me for the last seventeen years!" I shouted. "You're not my real mom!" I stated.

Mom slapped me hard across the face, The force behind her swing caused me to fall to the ground. Blood poured from lip.

"Pepper!" Dad and Steve shouted simaltanouesly.

I gasped in shock as I tried to get my breath back. Wiping away the blood from my lips, I looked up at her.

Her eyes widened. "I am so sorry Ari." She took hold of my arm to help me up.

I quickly pulled my arm from her grasp. "Don't touch me!" I shouted before getting up and running off upstairs.

I through myself down on the bed and buried my head into my pillow. Crying heavily, the sound of my sobs were muffled by the soft fabric. Someone entered the room. I turned onto my side to see dad.

"Ari." He said softly before sitting down on the edge of the bed. "How did you find out?" He asked.

"Although your ghost drive provided me with a challenge when hacking it, it still took me around five minutes tops to get in. I did that ages ago." I answered.

Dad smirked. "That's my girl."

"So, who is she?" I asked curiously.

"Her name was Sophia Sutton."

I smiled. "Where is she?"

Dad sighed. "She died in a car accident when you were only a few months old."

My eyes widened. "Ohh." I said quietly. I couldn't hide my dissapointment. Then I realised, how could I feel sad about a part of my life that I never really had.

"You need to understand that your mom had always been there for you. She accepted you as her own child. I wish you didn't find out the way you did, I should have told you myself."

"It's okay." I smiled before hugging dad. "I understand."


	3. More Human Than Human

Later that evening, I walked down the stairs to the dad's workshop. Hearing voices, I hid behind the door and listened carefully.

"Welcome home sir. Congratulations on the opening ceremonies, they were such a success as was your senate hearing. And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you on an internet video with your clothes on."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"How many ounces a day of this gobbledygook I am supposed to drink?" He asked.

"We are up to 80 ounces a day to counteract the symptoms sir." Jarvis stated.

My eyes widened. I discretely glanced into the room. Dad was drinking from a white container which was filled with some sort of black liquid. Once done, he took out a silver device and placed it down on the desk.

"Check palladium levels."

He placed his thumb down onto the device before removing it. I couldn't read the display screen but I knew it wasn't good judging from the expression on his face.

Jarvis began displaying data on his monitors. One was a diagram of his chest complete with the arc reactor. Something was wrong. The skin around the reactor was dark red in colour and shrouded in purple viens moving away from it. Then screen also read:

'_Palladium concentration - 24%_'

"The use of the Iron Man suits appears to be accelerating your condition." Jarvis stated. "Another core has been depleted sir."

Dad began to remove the reactor from his chest. "God they're running out quick." He stated, removing the palladium chip from the chest piece. My eyes widened as I noticed the smoke rising from the burnt out chip.

"I have run simulations on every known element, and none can serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core. You are running out of both time and options." Jarvis explained.

Dad inserted a new chip before placing the reactor back into his chest.

"Unfortunately, the device that is keeping you alive, is also killing you." He stated. "Miss Potts is approaching..."

I gasped before running off up the stairs just as mom was heading down to the workshop. Luckily, she didn't notice me. I felt sick. My mind was blank apart from that one phrase. 'The device that is keeping you alive, is also killing you.' I didn't know what to do, but I know I man who might!

As I finally reached the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters building, I walked to the entrance and scanned my dad's pass against the plate.

'_Access Granted: Tony Stark_'

Running over to the front desk, the woman looked up at me before furrowing an eyebrow.

"How did you get in here? This place isn't open for kids to just walze in!" She picked up the red phone. "I'm calling security!" The woman began dialling the number.

"No!" I panicked before sprinting off.

"Come back here!" She screamed. "Somebody stop her!"

Various agents began to persue me as I made my way up the glass steps. I guessed that Fury's office would be on the top floor.

"Sop right there!" A voice shouted from behind me.

I glanced at the floor sign as I passed.

'_Floor 2_'

Stuff this! I noticed a lift in the corridor and quickly rushed inside before selecting 'Floor 19' and hammering on the 'close doors' button. As the doors finally began to close, the agents were gaining on me.

"Stop!" "Come back here!" "You are un-authorised!"

The doors closed.

As the lift ascended, I rested my arm against the wall of the lift as I got my breath back. I dreaded what was going to be waiting for me after the doors opened. Were the agents already there? Are they armed. I tried to focus my mind back to why I was here. The door beeped.

"Floor 19." The electronic voice spoke.

Fury's office had to be around here somewhere. Cautiously stepping out of the lift, I was suprised to find that the floor was agent free. I made my way down the corridor as I desperately searched for his office. A door opened behind me, I turned to see Nick Fury.

"So, why are my agents preparing to shoot you?" He asked.

Once inside his office, Nick sat down in a dark leather chair while I stood in front of his desk. I wasn't leaving without help!

"What are you doing here Arianna?" He asked.

"It's my dad, he's dying of palladium poisoning." I stated. "He's been trying to hide it from us, but I saw him testing his blood toxicity." I explained.

Nick Fury leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. "What other information do you have?"

"I overheard him talking to Jarvis. Apparently the use of his suits increases the palladium levels in his blood. The arc reactor in his chest is killing him!"

"I'll send in an agent to access the problem." He stated. "Until then, keep monitoring him and inform me if you have any further information regarding his condition."

I nodded.


	4. Back In Black

The next morning, I awoke to silence. Not a voice could be heard. "Jarvis." I called sleepily.

"Yes Arianna?" He responded.

"House check please."

"Certaining Miss..." A few seconds later. "You are alone."

"Thank you." I smiled before getting up. "The house to myself, sweet!" I grinned before quickly getting changed.

Sliding down the banister, I clapped my hands. AC/DC's Back In Black began to blast through the house. Making my way into the kitchen, I opened the fridge and took out the ingredients needed to make pancakes before closing the door with my elbow. Placing the food down on the counter, I looked out the window. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Suddenly, I noticed something in the distance. Grey in colour, it came closer and closer before going out of view. Furrowing an eyebrow, I gasped as the ceiling was brought down around me. "Ahh!" I screamed before running to find cover. Dodging falling rubble and stone, I quickly hid under the counter. A large bang could be heard before the sound of footsteps. Louder and louder they became until, the thing looked down at me. My heart raced in fear as the thing smashed it's metal fist through the marble benchtop and grabbed me by the throat. The thing's grip was so tight I could scarcily breathe. Pulling me up, it held me high in the air as I was desperately trying to find air. The thing's helmet retracted backwards. Inside the metal suit of armour was a man with a scar across his left eye. A malicious smile formed.

"Arianna Stark!" He bellowed. "You are the daughter of Tony Stark and therefore, you shall die along with him!" He threatened before throwing me back against the wall causing everything on the shelves above to fall off.

My head smacked against the wall before I dropped, slumped to the floor in a heap as I looked up at my attacker.

He slowly walked towards me. "This will be easier than I anticipated. What's the matter, did daddy not leave you anything to defend yourself with?" He taunted.

I could feel my body wanting to shut down and sleep, but I knew I had to fight despite the pain.

"I will finish you, and then your father is next!" The man stated.

Grabbing one of the sprays lying on the floor, I quickly sprayed it into his eyes.

"Ahh!" He cried in pain.

Taking the oppurtunity, I sprinted across the room in search of something to arm myself with. Upon reaching the shelf, I had the options of: an iron sculpture and dad's old baseball bat. Choosing the second option, I grabbed it before running into the living room.

"You can't run from me!" The man called as his footsteps came closer and closer once again.

Readying myself with the bat, as he walked through the doorway, I smacked the control panel at the back of his suit.

The man laughed. "That may have been enough to stop me if I was wearing of your father's crap suits, but not this one."

I began to panic.

"You see, I am a very patient man, but when people make me very angry, my patience becomes none existent!" He stated before grabbing hold of my arm and twisting it round.

I dropped the baseball bat as I screamed out in pain. He broke my arm! My head felt woozy as I stumbled. Then, I remembered a loyal family friend. "Jarvis!"

"Yes Arianna." Jarvis answered.

"Help!" I screamed.

"Of course Arianna."

The lights went off as the house became shrouded in darkness.

"Uh, why can't you just let me kill you, it'll be a whole lot easier!" The man stated.

The alarm began to ring.

The man panicked. "What did you do?! You stupid girl! What did you do?!" He screamed.

The only difference about our alarm system is, it alerts The Avengers.

"Clever things housekeepers." I struggled.

Grabbing me by the throat, he looked beyond annoyed. "Turn it off!" He instructed.

"I can't!" I stated breathlessly.

"Turn it off!" He screamed.

A sound could be heard in the distance. The man quickly turned before his eyes widened. "You bitch!"

Grabbing something, he thrust it into my stomach. I immediately felt a sting as I gasped in pain.

The man sped off.

Looking down, blood poured through my white t-shirt staining it red. The bastard had stabbed me. "Ahh!" I moaned as the pain escalated. I felt so weak and woozy. Collapsing to the ground, my head rested against the stone floor. I couldn't help but feel that this could be the end.

"Ari!" I heard a voice scream.

My eyelids flickered as the pain worsened.

"Ari!" It was Steve. "Keep Tony out of here!" He stated in a caring tone. Kneeling down beside me, he began to assess my wounds.

"I'm sorry." I apologised weakly. A tear ran down my cheek.

"Hey." He said softly. "You're going to be alright, you just need to keep your eyes open for me." Steve sounded so panicked.

I hated disobeying him, but my body just wanted to sleep.

"Ari, come on Ari you need to stay awake." He stated in a fearful tone. "Ari."

**Everything went black.**


	5. Comfortably Numb

As my eyelids became lighter, I was able to flicker them open. Looking around, I wasn't in a hospital. Instead, I was in the basement on one of dad's monitoring tables. What on Earth was going on? Bruce and Steve came in focus. They were stood next to the bed and smiled slightly.

"Hello Ari, it's good to see you awake." Smiled Bruce.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asked.

"Groggy." I answered truthfully. "Where's dad?"

"I'm right here." A sorrow filled tone answered. He too was beside the bed. As soon as I caught sight of him, I knew that something was wrong. His expression showed only sadness and distraught.

Looking down at my chest, I gasped at the sight of an arc-reactor just like my dad's in the place of my heart. My eyes widened. "What happened?" I asked while trying not to hyperventilate as I spoke.

"We didn't have enough time to get you to the hospital, your injuries were too severe." Bruce began.

"Bruce had to stop the bleeding so we brought you down here and had to opperate. He managed to stitch up the damaged organs, but your body went into cardiac arrest. No matter what he did, your body wouldn't respond." Dad explained. "You were too far gone, we were going to lose you." He lowered his head. "So I replaced your heart with an arc reactor." His eyes were dark red from crying.

"We did everything we could, I'm so sorry Ari." Bruce apoligised.

"You shouldn't apoligise for saving my life." I smiled hiding my sadness and shock.

Steve smiled. "You'll be pleased to know that Thor, Natasha and Clint are currently seeking down your attacker."

I nodded. "That's good, and by the way." I turned to dad. "We really need some more weapons in the house." I smirked. "I had the choice of mom's iron elephant sculpture or your old baseball bat."

Dad laughed. "That can be arranged."

"How did you make the alarm go off?" Steve asked.

"I asked Jarvis to help me and he did." I smiled.

Dad smiled too. "Now you're going to have to take it easy for a few days until your body becomes used to the reactor." He explained.

I nodded. "Okay."

Coming closer, dad kissed me softly on the forhead. "I'm so glad you're alright." He still looked worried.

I tried to move my right arm to hug him but I soon remembered that it was broken.

Dad looked at one of the computer screens on the wall. "I'll be back in a sec." He walked off with Bruce.

Steve smiled. "You handled yourself pretty well back there."

"I got stabbed and he broke my arm, how did I handle it well?" I laughed.

"Because you're still alive." He stated. "That man was a trained assassin who was fully suited and armed, he could have easily killed you, so whatever you did worked."

"I was still completely useless back there." I smirked.

"You didn't give up, I like that about you. Determination is a good trait to possess." He smiled.

After few minutes later, when dad, Steve and Bruce were monitoring something on one of the computers, I took my oppurtunity and carefully swung my legs around the side of the table before dropping to the floor. I was immediately hit with a light headed feeling, but I knew I had to fight through it or they would notice me instantly. Walking off towards the stairs, I used the wall to steady myself before gripping the bannister tightly on my ascent up the steps. Once on the first floor, I quietly snuck across the living room before leaving the house.

Reaching the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, I was delighted to find that they still had the same pass entry system as my previous visit. Taking dad's ID from my pocket, I scanned it against the reader.

'_Access Granted: Tony Stark_'

I shook my head. "They never learn." Walking inside, the woman on the reception desk looked at me.

"How do you keep getting in here?!" She shouted. "Security!"

"Not again!" I moaned before running into one of the lifts and pushing '_Floor 19_'.

The lift began to ascend. As it reached the top floor, I exited out onto the corridor and walked down to Nick Fury's office before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Opening the door, I walked inside. "Hi Nick. I must say, your security is terrible! I've just managed to get into your office without being stopped by one gaurd. Not to mention that anyone can get into the building as long as they have one of your ID cards."

Nick furrowed an eyebrow. "Yes but we don't get many break-ins, you are our only problem."

"Charming."

"Do you want something, because I've got alot of work to do nevermind you wasting my time with your now routine visits." He stated. "This better be important." Nick eyes widened as he caught sight of the arc reactor glowing through my shirt. He looked at me. "What happened?"

"I got attacked and stabbed by a suited assassin." I explained. "The device that is killing my father has replaced my heart. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared right now."

"Why did your father do this?! He would've known what he was condemning you to when he installed it in your chest." Nick stated.

"It was either replace my heart with a miniturised arc reactor to save my life, or do nothing and let me die." I explained.

"Yes but both of those options ultimately result in your death."

"You think I don't know that!" I responded.

"The difference is though, you have time. Your father has been relying on the arc reactor for years and has accelerated his condition from continuous use of the Iron Man suits." Nick smiled. "I have some items which you may find useful." He brought over a large crate with '_Property Of H Stark_' printed in black on the lid.

"What-" A pain erupted in my chest interupting my question. "Ahh!" I moaned, clutching my chest.

"Arianna!" Nick rushed over and took hold of my arm to stable me.

The arc reactor flickered for a few seconds before glowing fully once again.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

I nodded. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." I sat down on one of the seats in the office.

"What just happened?" Nick asked with a concerned expression.

"My body hasn't fully accepted the arc reactor as a replacement for my heart yet. My cells are trying to fight it and so far, they're winning." I explained. "When dad said take it easy, he wasn't kidding." I opened the lif of the crate. Inside were various metal tins encasing film reels, an issue of Forbes magazine with a very young dad on the cover, a poster of the periodic table of elements and an old leather bound journal. "How did you get all this?" I asked.

"That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." He stated.

"No it was finished, it was never really effective until dad miniturised it." I explained.

"No, your father hasn't tried everything. Your grandfather said that the arc reactor was the stepping stone to something greater. He was about to kick off the energy race which was going to dwarf the arms race. He was onto something big! Something _so_ big that it was going to make the nuclear reactor look like a triple a battery." Nick stated.

"You said that dad hadn't tried everything, what has he not tried?"

"Howard said that Tony would be the only one with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Nick explained. "If what you've said is true, then your Father may be too weak, which is were you come in. I've seen what you can do. Now our systems have seven layers of security, and you hacked all of them in a matter of minutes from your room. You are your Father's successor. His intelligence is truly remarkable, but there's not a doubt in my mind that you are even greater than he is." He leant forward. "Are you that girl? Are you?" He leant forward. "Because if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your hearts." Nick opened one of the drawers of his desk and took out a silver box. "These will help to take the edge off." He handed it to me.

"What are they?" I asked opening the lid of the box to reveal a dozen syringes filled with a light blue liquid.

"They're shots of Lithium Dioxide, when your dad's health starts to decline, he's going to need to use these." Nick stated. "They should keep him on his feet."

"A few boxes of these and he'll be fine."

"They won't cure the blood toxicity, only erase some of the symptoms." Nick explained. "I'm warning you now Arianna, this doesn't look like it's going to be an easy fix."

I nodded. "Trust me I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permitation of every known element."

"Well I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all." He stated.


	6. The House Of The Rising Sun

Nick showed me to a room in the S.H.I.E.L.D building and had someone bring the container before leaving me to figure out what the stuff my Grandfather had left me meant. Sitting down in a leather arm chair in the center of the room, I opened the lid of the container and took out the contents lying everything down on the floor. One thing in particular caught my eye. Inside the container, there was a large rolled up blueprint.

'Arc Reactor - TFTR -1 / Anton Vanko - Howard Stark'

Opening it up, I was slightly dissapointed as I looked at the drawings to see they were nothing more than a early copy of my Father's version. Placing the blueprint down on the floor, I then took out the tin cans. Opening them up, I took out the tapes inside them and inserted the first into the projector sat on the table.

The tape flickered for a few seconds before the image became clear. A clackerboard snapped before a model of an arc reactor could be seen. The camera then zoomed out.

"Everything is achievable through technology. Better living, robust health, and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace."

I had only seen my Grandfather on pictures, it was strange seeing him on this film.

"I'm Howard Stark, and everything you will ever need for the future can be found right here."

The scene changed and Howard was now pacing backwards and forwards while practicing his lines. "City of the future...City of tommorow..."

"I'm Howard Stark, and everything you will ever need for the future can be found right here. So from all of us at Stark Industries..."

I smiled as a small brown haired boy appeared in the back of shot dressed in a striped jumper. "Dad..."

Dad picked up one of the models on the table.

"I would like to personally..." Howard turned and noticed Dad. "Tony, what are you doing? What is that?" He asked. "Put it back! Put it back where you got it from!" Howard ordered sternly.

Dad put the model back.

"Where's your Mother?" Howard asked. "Maria." He began waving his hand. "Come on, go! Go!"

A man dressed in a white shirt walked over and picked up Dad before walking out of shot.

Howard turned back to the screen before the tape ended and began to flicker white.

This was useless, nothing in any of Howard's notebooks gave me any information I could use to save Dad, and the film had nothing of importance on it either. Throwing the book down on the floor, I casted a hand through my fringe and sighed before sinking back into the chair, defeated.

The film on the screen began to show Howard once again.

I furrowed an eyebrow before sitting forward in the chair.

"Tony, you're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you. And some day you will realise that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time. But one day you will figure this out, and when you do...you will change the world."

Dad has always described his Father as a cold man that was without emotions. Seeing him here, he seemed so different.

"What is and always will be my greatest creation..." He paused. "Is you."

The film began to flicker before it once again went to white.

A tear trickled down my cheek.


	7. Walk On The Wild Side

After being driven back to the house by a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, I made my way down into the basement. The place was a mess, boxes were stacked messily in the corner of the room and pieces of scrap metal were scattered across the floor. Everything that was left over from the Expo was also dumped. I furrowed an eyebrow. Propped up against the wall half covered by a white sheet, was a model of the expo. Walking closer, I noticed the plaque bolted onto the side of it.

'The Key To The Future Is Here'

Pulling off the sheet, I smiled.

Blowing away the layer of dust covering the model, I looked down at it. It had taken me no more than a couple of minutes to construct all three pieces of the model and place them down on the workbench.

"Jarvis, could you kindly vacuform a digital wireframe, I need a manipulable projection."

Jarvis began to scan the model.

"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, Miss." He stated.

Holding out my hands, I raised the projection of the model into the air. "Uhh, how many buildings are there?"

"Am I to include the Belgian waffle stands?" Asked Jarvis.

I carried the projection across the room

"Uhh, that was rhetorical, just show me." I smirked before dropping it down so that it was about waist height. I then snapped my fingers. The model then spun before stopping so that it was like a wall in front of me. "What does that look like to you, Jarvis? Not unlike an atom. In which case, the nucleas, would be here." I pointed to the globe in the centre of the projection. highlight the unisphere." I traced the shape with my finger before enlarging it. I paused. "Loose the footpaths. Get rid of them." I swiped them away.

"What is it you're trying to achieve, Miss?" Asked Jarvis.

"I'm discovering...uhh scratch that, rediscovering a new element." I answered. "Loose the landscaping and the shrubbery and the trees. Parking lots. Exits. Entrances. Stretch the protons and the neutrons using the pavillions as a frame."

As the projection manipulated itself, I pulled over the desk chair and sat down. Looking up at the shape forming in front of me, I tried to get my head around it. Then, it all made sense. I reached out my hand causing the structure to enlarge.

"Dead for over 40 years, and he's still taking me to school." I grinned before closing the projection.

"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core, Miss."

"Thanks, Grandad." I smiled.

"Unfortunately, it is impossbile to synthesize." Jarvis stated.

"Nothing's impossible."


	8. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Walking over to my bag, I took out the box filled with the syringes Nick had gave me. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I called Mom.

"Ari?"

"Hi, Mom. I need to talk to you about something. Where are you?"

"I'm at work, Ari." She answered. "I've told you about calling me when I'm working."

"I know, but..." I tried to explain, but she kept cutting me off.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait. I'm with a client." Mom hung up.

I sighed in anger before closing my phone. Stuffing the box back into my bag, I threw the straps over my shoulder before heading off.

A 20 minute walk, and two buses later, I eventually reached the factory. Entering inside, Dad was standing talking to a group of employees. Mom was stood by the reception desk.

I walked over. "Mom!"

She turned to me before her expression changed to reflect her anger. "Ari. I told you I was working."

"I know, but this is important." I stated.

"How did you even get here." She asked.

"That's not important." I took off my backpack and unzipped it. Taking out the box, I handed it to Mom.

"What is this?" She furrowed an eyebrow.

"It's Dad, he's..."

"Pepper!" Someone called.

"Coming!" Mom shouted back before turning to me once again. "I don't have time for this today, Ari." She shoved the box at me. "We'll talk later." Mom walked off.

Following her discretely, I made my way down into the basement of the building, before entering the reactor room.

Mom was busy talking to one of the lab technicians.

I knew I had to tell her about Dad. There was no way that he was going to take these injections of his own accord, so I knew that she would be the only one who could get him to.

Hiding behind one of the control panels, I tried to avoid their line of vision.

Suddenly, I felt a hand grasp me by the collar.

"What do you think you're doing?" The voice asked sternly.

Mom furrowed an eyebrow before walking over. Upon catching sight of me, she shook her head in embaressment. "Ari..."

"I really need to talk to you..." I stated.

"Fine, you have my attention." She replied reluctantly.

"In private."

The technician walked off out of the room.

"What is it, Ari?" Mom asked.

"It's..."

I was cut off once again, but this time, it was by the sound of an alarm.

Mom's eyes widened as she ran to the door before hastily imputing a code into the keypad.

'Acess Denied'

The reactor became louder as it seemed to be powering up.

"Mom, what's happening?" I asked.

The arc reactor down here hadn't been used in years. The thing was pulled from service after it was found to be faulty. Something wasn't right with the design. Dad condemed it due to the radiation that would leak from it.

Something was wrong!


	9. Don't Worry Baby

One of the first things Dad taught me was to never interfere with an already stable reactor.

'Acess Denied'

"No!" She panicked before entering the code again.

'Acess Denied'

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Someone's changed the security code, we can't overide the system." She explained.

"But the reactor, it's going to..." I began.

"I know." She spoke in a soft tone. "But we can't get out."

I walked over to her and buried my head against her chest. "So we're trapped?"

Mom nodded and gently stroked my hair. "The reactor is going to blow, but we have enough time to tame the blast."

I nodded. "What do we need to do?"

"You need to get that toolbox over there. Inside you should find one of your father's reactor control panel keys." She stated.

Rushing across the room, I entered the chamber and hastily opened Dad's old red toolbox. It was empty. Turning back round, I realised what she had done.

"I'm sorry Arianna." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I love you."

"Mom!" I screamed. "Mom!" I desperately banged on the glass door of the chamber.

Mom walked over to the control panel and began imputing computer code into it. The machine hummed as the power reduced to 89%.

"Mom!" I screamed.

Hitting the red button, the reactor began to flicker.

I had to look away as the light became blindingly bright. Within a few seconds, the reactor erupted. Even inside the safe chamber, the sheer force of the explosion sent my flying backwards. I collided with the back panel, and everything went black.


	10. All I Have to Do Is Dream

"Ari..." A quiet voice spoke. "Ari, can you hear me?"

My body wanted to awaken, but my eyes were too heavy.

"Ari..." The voice spoke again.

Soon enough, my eyelids lightened and I was able to slowly open them. This time, I was in hospital. An oxygen tube was in my nose and an IV was monitoring me. I tried to sit up, but winced back against the soft pillows.

"You need to take it easy." Steve stated.

The doctor walked into the room. I smiled slightly as I noticed who it was. "Bruce."

"Hello Ari, it's good to see you awake." Bruce took my notes from the folder at the foot of the bed and proceeded to study them carefully.

"Where's Dad?" I asked.

"He's making arrangements." Steve answered softly.

Everything suddenly came back to me. The reactor, the explosion, Mom. I looked at Steve. "She's really dead?!" I spoke in a weak, quiet tone.

Steve nodded. "I'm sorry, Ari."

I tried to hold back my emotions, but in the end, I couldn't. Tears began to trickle down my cheeks. I buried my head in my hands as I came to terms with everything that had happened.

Entering the house later that night, the lights were off and there wasn't a sound to be heard. "Dad?" I called out into the darkness to see if he was home. "Dad?" I walked through the living room and up the stairs. Heading down the corridor towards my room, I noticed that the door to Dad's study was open slightly. Pushing it open further, I noticed the projector was switched on. The images being projected onto the wall were all of Mom and Dad when they were younger. I smiled as I walked over to his desk chair and sat down on it.

"What are you doing in here?"

I gasped in shock, not hearing anyone approach. Quickly turning, Dad was standing in the doorway. "I just wanted to see the pictures." I answered softly. "You weren't at the hospital." I stated.

"I'm sorry, Ari. I just had to sort out a few things." He looked so broken.

I nodded. "I'll be in my room." Leaving, I walked the remainder of the distance down the corridor to my room before entering and closing the door behind me. Throwing myself onto the bed, I buried my face in the pillow and let my emotions come flooding out.


	11. A Whiter Shade of Pale

The rain poured down as we were stood in the graveyard looking out at the hole dug out in the ground where a wooden box would soon be placed. The funeral was only a small gathering as there was no living family members on either of my Mom or Dad's side. This meant that the only people in attendance were me, Dad, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Natasha and Clint. Seven people. Seven people here to commemorate her life. I sighed before looking down, trying to hide the unshed tears gathering in my eyes.

Steve walked over and stood next to me before taking hold of my left hand.

I looked up at him and smiled weakly. Dressed in a black knee length dress, I was clutching a bunch of white carnations in my other hand ready to drop them on top of the coffin when the time came. Dad hadn't said a word to me since he caught me sitting in his study yesterday. I've never seen him like this before. His naturally cocky persona was replaced by one that reflected the emotions he was experiencing. The love of his life has just been vaporized by a machine of his own creation. That's why the funeral took so little time to plan. We didn't have to wait around for the body to be released to us or for the funeral directors to get it ready. When you have nothing left to bury, the funeral process becomes more of a way of saying goodbye then a memorial. I didn't know how to feel. How was I supposed to say my goodbyes to something that I know does not contain my Mother's corpse. How can I say goodbye when I know that I was the reason that she's know part of the atmosphere because of me. **I** was the reason she was down there. If **I** hadn't of kept trying to talk to her then she wouldn't be dead. She wouldn't be nothing more than particles. She would be alive and Dad would be happy. I was there, I watched her die, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. She died to save me. How could I ever forgive myself? Tears began to run down my cheeks as I broke out into a light sob.

Steve immediately pulled me against him wrapping his arms around me in a comforting embrace while stroking my hair gently. He didn't say a word because he knew there was nothing he could say to make things right. My Mom's gone, and she's never coming back. No matter how much I want her to.

In the corner of my eye, I could see the other Avengers wincing in sympathy. Dressed in their black suits, they seemed so out of character.

The priest looked over at Steve and I.

"Should I continue?" He asked.

Steve nodded before tightening his grip on me in reassurance.

I turned my head slightly so I could see the service, but still maintained my vice like grip on Steve.

As the coffin was slowly lowered into the grave, more tears began to fall, although my sobbing had stopped. This was worse though. The silent tears hurt more inside.

"You may drop your flowers in now." Stated the priest.

Dad was first up. He simply dropped his bouquet on top of the coffin without saying a word before retreating back to his original spot.

Thor was next, then Bruce, then Clint.

Natasha walked over and squeezed my hand with a smile before walking forward and dropping in her flowers. The deep ink black of her dress made her bright red hair look even more vibrant in the darkness of the cloud covered sky.

Knowing that it was my turn, I looked up at Steve with a petrified expression. I didn't want this to be it. I didn't want to say goodbye. I couldn't let go of her. Not now. Not when I need her the most. I didn't know what was going to be in store for Dad and I in the coming months, and I don't want to go through it alone.

"No..." I whimpered in an near silent tone.

"It's okay..." Steve reassured softly. "It's okay..." He crouched down slightly so that he was at eye level with me. "I'm right here..." He smiled. "We'll do it together...Okay?"

"I can't do this, Steve." I spoke as my voice cracked in sadness and more tears began to fall.

"Yes you can." He nodded. "I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. Okay?"

I nodded.

"Come on." Once again taking ahold of my hand, he tightened his grip around it reassuringly before guiding me to the side of the grave. "Ready?" He asked, turning to me.

I took a deep breath before nodding.

"On three..."

_1_

_2_

_3_

I let go of the bunch allowing them to flutter down onto the wooden coffin. I noticed the little metal plaque.

'_Pepper Potts, loving wife and Mother. She will be eternally missed._'

Bundling myself back into Steve, he wrapped his arms around me once again before sighing. "It's okay, Ario." He whispered softly. "It's okay..."


End file.
